Conduit



A.; PETERSEN.

CONDUIT l Dec. 19, 1922.

FILED IUNE 9.1919.

.. @fi /f CIV Patented Dec. 1l9, 1922,

ANKER TENT PETERSEN, or Wiirrir'iwi',` MASSACHUSETTS, ssSIGNoR, nvisinsNii Assiem- ILEENTS, TO THE AMERICAN TTIREMOLD COMPANY, F HARTFORD,CQNNECTICUT,

Application tiled .Tune 9, Serial 9,692,644.

JTo all whom t may concern:

Be it known that l, ANirnnPn'innsiiN, a citizen ci the United States oiAmerica, and resident of Winthrop, in the couiitv oi' Suffolk and Stateoit Massachusetts, nave' invented new' and useful improvements inConduits, of which the following 'is a specification. l v

This invention relates' to. conduits ifor Wires, pipes andother'conductors requiring a protective or insulating covering.

lt has heretofore beencustoinary to form paper, textile, or Wire tubingsfor protection of electric WiringJ or small diameter tubes by Winding orWrapping operations, by Weaving operations and sometimes by one or bothof these operations in connection with a braiding operation carried outWith textile yarns characterized bysinall diaineter and: by flexibility,but themselves `contributing nothing to the stiffness of the tubeand'serving merely asa binder or cover ici a tube already completed bythe structure built up of its remaining elements. nihe operations of theprior art by Which such Wrapped or Woven textile or composite tubularconduits are built up are not only slov7 but of such a nature that it isdifficult to provide the longitudinal tensile strength of the conduitsso formed. E or electrical Wiring conduits of this type are required bythe insurance underwriters to stand a strain oi: two hundred or morepounds applied longi- V. linally or" the empty conduit. llt is dii'iit.t and expensive to provide a Wrapped, Woven or composite conduit havingthe desiied longitudinal tensilestrengthv because the best practice theprior art has heretoiiorel' required that the stiiienin and rondity ofthe conduit be maintained `by a stin, thick element Wrapped about theconduit as the Weit ot a Weaving operation, or as the contacting singlespirals oi= a Wrap'- ping operation, and in either case in such a Cposition in thetube as not to add materially tothe longitudinal tensilestrength.

@ne object of the present invention is to provide for the improvedmanufacture of such conduits or'tubes by operations which shall be rapidand economical, to economize in the cost of the textile element oringredient ci" such conduits, andto provide a tubu lar structuredisplaying resistance under eX- -invention are to provide a conduit ofthe characteristics above mentioned adapted to be made by braidingoperations adapted to be carried out yon a high speed braiding inachine,so that the machine-production cost oi the product is reduced to aminimum.

ln the accompanying drawings,- ,y

-lFigure l is an elevation with the outer covering partly removed oa4section or" a conduit according to my invention;

lligure 2 is a transverse section of the conduit; v

Figure 3 is elevation oi the textile eienient of the' conduit;

liigure si is an elevation of tnestifi and thi-ck element oi; theconduit;

Figure 5- is a diagram Skeleton elevation showing the position in thefabric of typical textile and a typical stiiiening element.

Referring now to ig. l the'braided conduit l is substantially entirelj/coinposed of the thick, stiff" elements 2 laid side by side 1n.'

spiral interleaved relation in sufficient nunc ber to Ahave their.`transverse sections occupy the entire periphery ci the tube. its shownparts ofthe element 2, see Fig. 2, make up the periphery of the Theelements 2 preferably areo hard twisted paper cord which may have around, flat or oval cross section, the latter being shown inA F ig. 2.Preferably these elements 2 are held together by strong but thininterbraided binder elements 3, for instance 2-20s cotton .yards oi goodquality Wound and laid into the fabric in multiple parallel relation asshown. Four of the elements 3 may be braided as one, for instance, andthe braid may be the 1-and-l braid of the patternY illustrated, althoughit Will be obvious to braiders that other relations of braided Warp andbraided "v/eft Will produce the desired results, and the strucn ture iSnot to be understood to be limited to a l-and-l braid. Whatever be theparticular pattern of braid care is taken not to disturb the contactingrelationship of the stiff, thick elements 2. llt will be understoodwithout further explanation that the thin, textile binder elements 3, ofwhatever material they may be composed, will pass between the adj acentruns of the elements 2 without materially separating them, the tensionof the braided strands, on the braiding machine mandrel preferablyemployed being suflicient to mash the elements 3 into elements 2 attheir crossing and so to leave acontinuous tube vof the stiff' elements2. As best shown in Fig. 5 a preferred relationship of diameter to thepitch or twist of both sets of Y strands, when there ar@ six strands 2,is

about one pitch of the spiral to each five diameters in lengthvof thetube.

As so formed the tube braided of elements 2 and 3 constituting theconduit proper l is an exceedingly strong but sufficiently flexible tuberelatively sotight at its crevices as to resist entrance into itscentral cavity of the waterproof impregnating andy covering orinsulating material generally used with such conduits. Any desiredbraided cover for ornament or structural protection may be applied tothe outside of the tube l; as shown 2-and-2 twill braid of linen, silk,ramie or cotton may be applied on the outside, preferably by asimultaneous operation with that for the forming of the tube 1.

While such conduits are sometimes formed in place on the wire they areto cover, it is often the practice to insert the wire or tube to becovered into the conduit. By the construction described, the slight playbetween the spires of the spiral 2 at their limit of longitudinalcompression [and of lateral expansion] and at their limit. oflongitudinal extension, [and ofilateral compression] is sufficient toenable the conduit to be compressed in the direction of its length toreceive the rounded end of a wire or tube threaded into it, and then tobe locked upon the wire or tube threaded into it by stretching thecoverwith respect to the wire or tube. An important feature also lies incapacity to soak or dip the tube in impregnating material -withouthaving this penetrate to its inner surface.

ll claim:

'1. A tubular conduit comprising a plurality of spirally wound thickstiff elements lying side by side and with their'adjacent longitudinaledges substantially in contact and under compressive stress when forceis applied tending to elongateA the conduit, and means intermeshingtherewith for holding said elements together.

2.,A tubular conduit comprising a plurality `of spirally wound thickstiff elements lying side by side and with their adjacent neeaeaalongitudinal edges substantially in contact, and means intermeshingtherewith for holding said elements together, the direction of saidelements being more nearly longitudinal than transverse of the conduit.v

3. A tubulary braided conduit comprising a plurality of stiff thickelements with their adjacent edges substantially in contact with eachother and under compressive stress when force is applied tending toelongate the conduit, and a series'of flexible, thin binder elementsinterbraided with said stiff, thick elements whereby stiffness andrigidity against crushing of the conduit wall is provided by the stiff,thick elements held in place by the thin resilient elements.

4. A tubular braided conduit comprising a plurality of stiff, thickelements extending longitudinally of the conduit and with their Aadjacent edges substantially in contact with each other, and a series offlexible, thin binder -elements intermeshed with said stiff elements andalso extending lengthwise of the conduit, whereby stiffness and rigidityagainst crushing of the conduit wall is provided by the stiH, thickelementsy held in place by the thin, resilient elements.

5. A tubular braid consisting of a spirally wound series of hard, stiffcomponents having their adjacent longitudinal edges substantially incontact throughout the length ofthe braid and ysubject. to compressivestress upon 'application of force tending to elongate the conduit, saidstiff components being'held in place by a crossing series of thin,flexible components. f

6. A tubular braid consisting of a spirally wound series of hard, stiffcomponents having their adjacent longitudinal edges substantially incontact throughout the length of the braid and held in place by acrossing series of thin, flexible components, the direction of saidelements being more nearly longitudinal than transverse of the conduit,

7. A conduit consisting of a tubular braid having side by side a seriesof spirally wound relatively hard and stiff yarns, said yarns being soconstructed and' arranged as to constitute a substantially continuousand unbroken tube, and means intermeshing therewith for holding saidyarns in edgewise contact throughout the greater portion of theiradjacent meeting edges.

8. A tubular conduit comprising a braided tube having elements whichextend spirally in'A one direction, vcollectively constitutingy asubstantially unbroken circumferential wall therefer, and other elementsextending spi-v rally in the opposite direction, the elements of the twosets being interbraided at their crossings, characterized by theelements of one set greatly exceeding the elements of the other inwidthk and stiffness whereby the stiffer elements form the wall of thevtubular conduit and adjacent stiffer elements are and an oppositelydisposed separated only so far as to permit the crossing of the thinbinder elements serving to hold them in place.

9. A conduit comprising a series of elements which extend spirally inone direction longitudinally of the conduit constituting a substantiallyunbroken circumferential wall therefor, and a second series or' elementswhich extend spirally in the opposite direction longitudinally of theconduit, the two series of elements being intermeshed at theircrossings, characterized in that the elements of one series greatlyexceed'thj'ose of the other in width and stiffness so that the ystifferelements form the wall of the tubular conduit and adjacent stifferelements are separated only so far as to admit the crossing of the otherand relatively thin elements which serve to bind them in place.

10. A braided tubular conduit consisting of a spirally disposed seriesof hard yarns spiral series of textile yarns of a thin and pliantnature, the yarns of the rst series having their adjacent edges incontact except at the points at which the textile yarns pass betweenthem.

1l. A braided tubular conduit consisting of a spirally disposed seriesofhard paper yarns and an oppositely disposed spiral series of textileyarns of a thin and pliant nature, said paper and textile yarnsconstituting warp and weft elements respectivel adjacent yarns of therst series normal y touching each other substantially throughout theirlengths except at the points at which the textile yarns passtherebetween.

12. A tubular braid for use as a conduit characterized by a series ofparallel spiral components of relatively large ydiameter, and means forholding said components in operative relationship consisting ofrelatively thin textile binder elements wound in and out between them,the adjacentcomponents of the first series contacting with each otherexcept at the points where the textile binders pass therebetween.

13. A tubular conduit `comprising two series of strands, the strands ofthe respective series being interbraided with each other, adjacentstrands of one series being substantially larger than those of the otherand by longitudinal contact with each other constituting a substantiallycontinuous Wall to resist penetration of impregnating material to theinterior of the conduit. Y

14. A conduit comprising two sets of spirally extending interbraidedelements, the elements of one set being arranged with their adjacentedges disposed opposite each other so that upon the application oftensile stress longitudinally of said conduit the elements of said oneset Will engage one another and be placed under compressive strainwhereby to prevent substantial diminution in diameter of said conduit.

15. vA tubular conduit comprising a plurality of spirally wound stiff,thick elements lying side by side and with their adjacent lon ltudinaledges substantially in contact an under compressive stress when force isapplied tending and the means intermeshconduit comprising a plurality ofstiff, thickj leleni'ents withl their adjacent edges substantially incontact with each other and under compressive stress when force isapplied tending to elongate the conduit, and a series 'of flexible, thinbinder elements interbraided with said stiff, thickelements wherebystiffness and rigidity against crushing of the conduit wall is providedby the still', thick elements held in place by the thin, liexibleelements, and a braided .textile tube constituting an outer casing forthe conduit.

17. A` conduit consisting of a tubular structure comprising two sets ofinterbraided spirally extending elements, the elements of one set beingnormally disposed in edge to edge contacting relationship so that uponthe application of tensile stress longitudinally of the conduit saidcontacting elements will be placed under compressive strain .whereby toprevent substantial decrease in diameter of said conduit, and an outervtubular casing enclosing said tubular structure and constructed andarranged to resist increase in` diameter of said tubular structure underinternal pressure.

Signed by me at Boston, Massachusetts, this 3rd day of June, 1919.

ANKER 'PETERSEN to elongate the conduit, means intermeshing therewithfor holding saidelements together, anda casing enclos-

